Tuesday, June 4, 2013

OBX Paddlepalooza 2013

Once again, the OBX Paddlepalooza delivered! Most SUP races & events are great for families, but this one in particular is very family oriented and attracts paddlers of all levels. Our kids consistently say every year how much they love going to this event. It's well run and a lot of fun, complete with an awesome BBQ/live music party.

Great job and kudos to Andy McKinney of WIND-NC, all the volunteers, Frisco Woods Campground, and all the sponsors for putting on another great event. Proceeds from the event support the local Hatteras Island Rescue Squad...who do so much year after year in helping both locals and tourists in all kinds of situations, including hurricanes. Enjoy the pics and commentary below.

All the following photos taken by my beautiful bride (you can click on the photo to view in large format and scroll through all the pics in large format...captions only appear in the smaller format pics)...

Andy McKinney - WIND-NC

Mens' 6 mile 14' race start

I actually had a great start for once and was able to get in a draft with the leaders early on, which definitely contributed to my 3rd place finish overall. However, at the 2nd lap's 1st buoy turn, sponsored pros Billy Miller and Steve Dullack were able to get a little gap away from me and I couldn't keep up and stay in their draft. Those guys were solid and well deserving of their 1 & 2 finish....congrats to Billy & Steve!

Juniors Noah Colino and my daughter McIntyre were at it together the entire time in the 12'6" 4 mile race.

Digging

William Nash won the Men's 2 mile SUP surf division. William and his family have been our friendly cabin neighbors the last couple years at this event.

Starboard's Mark Colino - Mark got to the start line a little late...another story for another time. I was wondering why he wasn't right next to me in the race since he and I have been battling back & forth at this event in prior years. Next time Mark!

After I lost the leader draft, I was a man all alone and had Kevin Baum, John Beausang, & Chip Boggs breathing down my neck. I had to really focus on my stroke and paddle smart to fend them off.

It was a funny and confusing race result for us because I didn't register for the "Elite" version of the 14' Mens 6 mile race. I didn't even notice that option when registering. Even though I was 3rd overall, I wasn't 3rd in the Men's Elite division (& didn't win any money), but won 1st in the Men's 6 mile 14' division (I guess you could call it the Open Division). Same thing for my daughter - I didn't register her as "Elite" in the Womens' 4 mile 12'6" race (I'm sure I wouldn't have registered her as such anyway), so even though she finished 2nd Womens' Overall, she didn't get 2nd in the "Elite" division (didn't get money), but got 1st in the Women's 4 mile 12'6" division. Confused? We were too. Lesson learned for us - pay close attention to the registration details. It's all good either way and it was so cool that several winners gave their prize money back to the proceeds going to Hatteras Island Rescue Squad, which was an awesome gesture. Big thanks and props also to William Pope and his wife for auctioning off the new board his wife won in the raffle at the awards party and giving the proceeds back to the Hatteras Island Rescue Squad.

"It's a dog eat dog world out there and I'm wearing milk bone underwear" - Norm of Cheers

It was all about the kids and besides the very close finishes in the other races, the kids race had one too! Looks like they're having fun!

My son Jake

Brody

Didn't get this little guy's name but he was on it!

Jake and I flashing our shaka east coast rules gangsta signs...LOL!

Did I mention the kids had a great time?

Slimed!

Fun live music from The Librarians

Yeah! For an 11 year old, much better than a trophy...to the victor go the spoils!

Waterturtle family race team

Audience participation on stage with The Librarians

Did some SUP surfing that afternoon after the race at Ramp 43 below the lighthouse. The wind was around 10mph...not too strong that Mark Pace and I couldn't paddle surf with our larger SUP surfboards on some fun waist high right handers but strong enough for some of the guys to do some light wind SUP wavesailing. Ken Kellar and Ralph Moore got some nice wave rides on their SUP wavesailing machines. No pics of that action but here is Ralph at Canadian Hole on Sunday where we had some fun flat water slalom blasting.

Equipment failure. It was an explosion on the water when that boom broke. It was an old boom and I had replaced the boom head on it once already. It was time for a replacement anyway. Just glad it broke close to shore.

The 3 Amigos ride again - Waterturtle, Mark Pace, Ralph Moore

Lit up on my 6.4 sail and 94lt board. Most everyone else were on smaller sails.

Ralph

Canadian Hole is a great place for the family to play while Daddy windsurfs

Mark

The Human Catapult, Aaron Vieira was in town from San Francisco, revisiting a place he used to sail way back.

Aaron was busting out the big freestyle moves. Sorry we didn't them captured on film Aaron!

WaterTurtle = a nickname some of my friends gave me when we were learning to waterski over 20 years ago because I loved being in the water so much...and still do.
I love to windsurf first and foremost, but I also love mountain biking, stand up paddle boarding/surfing, and snow skiing. I enjoy other outdoor activities such as hiking, kayaking, sailing/boating, the occasional Panthers or Cubs ballgame and NASCAR race, etc. I am a husband and father to three kids, plus I have a demanding job in the tech field. This keeps me very busy as it is, but once in a while, I do get outdoors to enjoy a great adventure either in the water or on land. I hope you enjoy my online journal of outdoor adventure. Check out the videos, posts, pictures, and other web sites linked from this page.